As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Simply cannot decide on Arteta at this moment in time. Annoyed we've lost the last 3 when we were in 4th. Could completely change if we win the next 3.
Yet, since he's been at the club he's won the FA Cup, beat Liverpool in the charity shield. Reached a semifinal of a cup competition in each of his seasons in charge. Made brave decisions in moving players out of the club that were affecting morale, and the payroll budget. Brought in some good quality players, and can see the young players improving and tightened up our ten year long defensive frailties. Compared to those clubs around us, he's doing a decent job for a rookie. Which is part of the problem I have with him. Arsenal should be a place for established elite managers. But, he didn't recruit himself, and nothing against him as a person.
Can live with him being a rookie. Neither George Graham nor Bertie Mee were established elite managers and both did pretty well.
One of the problems I have with him (and Edu) is he finds it too easy to get rid of players, but doesn’t replace them. George Graham got rid of a few of the more established players but quickly brought in Groves, Winterburn, Dixon, Bould, Richardson and Smith as well as some talented youngsters. And to think there were complaints about his lack of spending. As it stands Arsenal look like having no strikers at the start of next season. Lackofgoals and Nketiah will be gone (though neither are at all prolific). This will mean the new striker(s) will have to settle in very quickly. The squad has been down to bare bones since January, but it never needed to be. The bench shows how shallow the squad is. Fourth was there for the taking, but not signing a striker in January (or even last summer) is a big mistake. There may not be the same opportunities in the future.
The depth of squad is a huge issue and plenty on here predicted this during January and in some cases well before. I think it was DB who said we need 6 players a few pages back, in my opinion we need more like a minimum of nine in the summer, that is a huge ask.
For me we need a much better back up LB and RB, we need three CMs, two of them being good quality CDMs and one box to box, I know we have Partey but he is ropey and seems injury prone, we absolutely must have 2 new strikers and finally even if Saliba makes an appearance in the squad next season we need at least one more decent CB.
All of that is a huge undertaking but realistically our squad is wafer thin and should we get into Europe, as big an ask as it is, we need to massively improve our squad depth because right now our options from the bench are horrific and even allowing for the players out on loan most of those are sub par at best.
I just cannot envisage the Kroenkes spending big for a second summer and I cannot see Arteta being able to get the required depth from the squad as is therefore we need someone with proven ability and experience to move us forward.... who that might be i have no idea but an extension to Artetas contract would be wilfully negligent on the part of our owner and our 'Director' of football so you just know what will happen
Simply cannot decide on Arteta at this moment in time. Annoyed we've lost the last 3 when we were in 4th. Could completely change if we win the next 3.
Yet, since he's been at the club he's won the FA Cup, beat Liverpool in the charity shield. Reached a semifinal of a cup competition in each of his seasons in charge. Made brave decisions in moving players out of the club that were affecting morale, and the payroll budget. Brought in some good quality players, and can see the young players improving and tightened up our ten year long defensive frailties. Compared to those clubs around us, he's doing a decent job for a rookie. Which is part of the problem I have with him. Arsenal should be a place for established elite managers. But, he didn't recruit himself, and nothing against him as a person.
Or you could look at it another way and say that he used the transfer policy as his own form of retribution - when you move on experienced/proven players and replace them with unproven ones it is brave, but when you just get rid of players whose presence might undermine you and you dont bother bringing in anyone to replace them, then for me that is self serving vengence and it has hurt the team big time. I read someone on here over the weekend claiming that he did try to bring in vlahovic as a replacement for auba, but it was well publicised from early January that vlahovic had no interest in joining us.
A good manager knows how to use auba for the remaining 5 months of the season in order to get the top 4 position you covet - the swiss turd admitted last week in his woe is me interview, that he was on his way out the door until pep's cone boy went to him and asked him to wait 5 months and he would let him leave then if he still wanted to - if he can do that for a useless *word censored* like xhaka, then why couldnt he do it with the best goalscorer in the club ? Of course the response to this will be the way auba was gonna affect morale - does anyone actually believe that ? Isnt it well reported that auba was popular with the players, so he wasnt affecting their morale. How do you think the players morale is right now ? Feeling pretty low I would think, and you would have to wonder how their morale would be if they had a proper goalscorer in the team and were winning games and looking likely to get top 4 Please dont insult me by coming back with the media clap trap about the improved results after auba was dropped - that might work with a media who maybe dont pay close attention to the reality at AFC, but for Gooners we can look at the improved results and see them for what they were ...... wins against shit teams, and then followed up by an awful run of results as soon as we faced the better teams.
Simply cannot decide on Arteta at this moment in time. Annoyed we've lost the last 3 when we were in 4th. Could completely change if we win the next 3.
Yet, since he's been at the club he's won the FA Cup, beat Liverpool in the charity shield. Reached a semifinal of a cup competition in each of his seasons in charge. Made brave decisions in moving players out of the club that were affecting morale, and the payroll budget. Brought in some good quality players, and can see the young players improving and tightened up our ten year long defensive frailties. Compared to those clubs around us, he's doing a decent job for a rookie. Which is part of the problem I have with him. Arsenal should be a place for established elite managers. But, he didn't recruit himself, and nothing against him as a person.
Can live with him being a rookie. Neither George Graham nor Bertie Mee were established elite managers and both did pretty well.
One of the problems I have with him (and Edu) is he finds it too easy to get rid of players, but doesn’t replace them. George Graham got rid of a few of the more established players but quickly brought in Groves, Winterburn, Dixon, Bould, Richardson and Smith as well as some talented youngsters. And to think there were complaints about his lack of spending. As it stands Arsenal look like having no strikers at the start of next season. Lackofgoals and Nketiah will be gone (though neither are at all prolific). This will mean the new striker(s) will have to settle in very quickly. The squad has been down to bare bones since January, but it never needed to be. The bench shows how shallow the squad is. Fourth was there for the taking, but not signing a striker in January (or even last summer) is a big mistake. There may not be the same opportunities in the future.
Bertie Mee had Dave Sexton and Don Howe to make up for his lack of experience. George worked 4 years as a coach and then 4 years managing Millwall before he joined us. The novice Martinez-Lite cannot be compared to either, especially George. For me the biggest issue with Martinez-Lite is his lack of experience.
"Yet Arsenal boss Arteta remains uncertain about the Saliba's ability to handle the demands of the Premier League as well as his character. And he does not want Saliba back at the Emirates next season if he is going to be a disruptive element."
Another case of pep's cone boy banishing a player who might have opinions and views of their own - there are few things in life as predictable as this cock, and it seems that every time he wants rid of a player he comes out with comments or suggestions on a players attitude At what stage are the people above him gonna turn around and question whether it is his attitude that is the problem ?
"Yet Arsenal boss Arteta remains uncertain about the Saliba's ability to handle the demands of the Premier League as well as his character. And he does not want Saliba back at the Emirates next season if he is going to be a disruptive element."
Another case of pep's cone boy banishing a player who might have opinions and views of their own - there are few things in life as predictable as this cock, and it seems that every time he wants rid of a player he comes out with comments or suggestions on a players attitude At what stage are the people above him gonna turn around and question whether it is his attitude that is the problem ?
If Captain Black doesn’t want Saliba then fine, but will he sign anyone else? The way things are going there could be just 12 or 13 players in the squad next season with no strikers and a pair of sick notes as full backs. Captain Black can’t handle a big squad.
"Yet Arsenal boss Arteta remains uncertain about the Saliba's ability to handle the demands of the Premier League as well as his character. And he does not want Saliba back at the Emirates next season if he is going to be a disruptive element."
Another case of pep's cone boy banishing a player who might have opinions and views of their own - there are few things in life as predictable as this cock, and it seems that every time he wants rid of a player he comes out with comments or suggestions on a players attitude At what stage are the people above him gonna turn around and question whether it is his attitude that is the problem ?
This is another example of this out of his depth novice thinking acting like some sort of eternal ruler will show he Is in charge when in reality it just shows how out of depth he is.
Ah the sun newspaper,the last great bastion of journalism
And sometimes the message shouldnt de dismissed just because who is delivering it - we will see what happens in the next transfer window, but personally I believe that saliba will be sold in the next transfer window unless pep's waterboy is sacked first, simply because he has never wanted him in the squad in the first place. To fcuk him out on loan without even giving him a league cup game was an absolute disgrace, and even more so when you factor in the fact that he registered mustafi with the premier league ahead of saliba even though he knew mustafi was out injured until for another 3 months at that time
Obviously I dont know if Saliba would be the answer to our prayers at centre back, but I honestly believe that legohead would prefer to send him away than risk being proved wrong in signing white if he had a better centre back already in the club. It continues to get lost in the discussion when arteta gets praised for ridding the club of deadwood, that those he got rid of are actually better than those he kept - auba is miles better than laca and nketieh combined, guendouzi and torreira piss all over xhaka and sambi, and maitland-niles is miles better than cedric, and it isnt as though he got much money for these "sales" (most of them we got nought for ).
Or a case of a journalist regurgitating old comments looking for copy to file.
Exactly!
Seems a nonsense story to me. If Saliba is at Arsenal next season I expect a full apology from augie and BFG for choosing to believe The Sun
Do you believe that Saliba will be an AFC player when the next transfer window closes g88ner ?
I genuinely think he will mate… although I also thought it impossible we’d let Auba go without bringing a striker in to replace him so god only knows!
Actually, his contract situation might make it complicated. With only 2 years left, if he really wants out maybe we’ll sell.
Anyway, I’m far from being Arteta/Edu’s biggest critic but the treatment of Saliba has been abysmal. Massive fuck up not loaning him out in time last summer so I would understand Saliba wanting to leave.
Please dont insult me by coming back with the media clap trap about the improved results after auba was dropped - that might work with a media who maybe dont pay close attention to the reality at AFC, but for Gooners we can look at the improved results and see them for what they were ...... wins against shit teams, and then followed up by an awful run of results as soon as we faced the better teams.
